Hacker
by I'm Not Your Enemy
Summary: AU. As part of a terrorist organisation, Chihiro is sent under the guise of the new website coder to infiltrate Ishimaru's political party and gather as much confidential information as she can. Her priorities soon become thrown into perspective as a friendship with the brash bodyguard blossoms and she finds herself unable to perform with her usual distance from the target.
1. Chapter I

_A.N_. I've researched Japanese politics extensively but I'm still going to be very vague about it. Please call me out on any bullshit you see. Female pronouns are used for Fujisaki and she's referred to in the narrative as Chihiro instead of Fujisaki. The genres say friendship and crime but there's probably going to be a lot of angst later on. Rating subject to change.

**Hacker**

**Chapter I**

Chihiro was sent many anxious glances as she made her way down the hall. Being called personally to Monobear could end in many ways, most of which caused a shiver to make its way down her spine. Monobear was not one for subtlety; the small bear enjoyed simply taking over monitors employees happened to be working at and announcing his new projects, with flashing lights and streamers, to those involved. Personal calls were made to those who were either essential to a job, or about to be killed. Chihiro gulped. She'd been there to witness the last murder—a gambler who'd put too much faith in the odds and lost a startlingly large portion of the organisation's budget. She, along with her career, had gone up in flames, quite literally.

Chihiro raised a hand and knocked on the large, wooden door. It swung open within seconds and a nasally, high-pitched voice called, "Enter!"

Chihiro wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans and walked inside. The room was fitted with a plush, scarlet carpet with matching curtains drawn over the windows. Monobear was perched atop a small thrown, grinning down at Chihiro. Despite her input into his creation, he still unnerved her. The mastermind behind Monobear hardly ever stepped into the limelight; they simply allowed the small robot to take their place.

The jagged, red eye glowed menacingly.

"Ah, Fujisaki-kun! I have a special job for you!" he cooed down at her, leaning forwards on his thrown.

She could've cried with relief. A weight she had not realised was there lifted from her chest, and she asked, "A job?"

"Uh-huh." The wall behind Monobear split and unveiled a large screen. A man in a crisp, white suit stared out at the room, frozen in motion. "Do you know who this is?"

Chihiro nodded. "Ishimaru Kiyotaka. H-he's the president of the, um—"

"Liberal Democratic Party," Monobear chimed in, interrupting Chihiro's timid reply. "His grandfather was Prime Minister a while ago. Made a real mess of things, actually, and got booed out of office. And now look where his grandson is! He's a favourite for the next election."

Having kept her head out of politics for a while, Chihiro could only nod.

"Now, this," the screen changed, showing a blond man in a dark tailored suit scowling at the camera, "is our client, Togami-kun."

"Togami Byakuya?" Chihiro asked, stunned.

"The one and only! Now, you see, he doesn't much like the other guy. He has all these ideals and plans for Japan's future, but Democratic Party hasn't been too popular lately. He _really _doesn't think the lower and upper houses are gonna agree and choose him as Prime Minister, so he wants to play dirty."

Chihiro's brows furrowed. She was a programmer, a hacker at most. What did she have to do with this? "Why not hire an assassin?"

"Not _that _dirty, Fujisaki-kun. He only wants his life destroyed and his political career in ruins—"

"Only," Chihiro repeated dryly, somewhat disbelievingly.

"Which is why you're being sent for an interview as the LDP's new website coder! Then you can find all the top-secret files we need and send them back to us."

Her face paled and her hands curled and uncurled nervously. She'd never been the one on the ground before; she usually guided the operation from hundreds of miles away. She was used to the distance and the security her network of computers provided. This was, however, Monobear's wish, and you never declined Monobear lest you were to be the subject of an unfortunate accident.

"What do I do?"

Monobear leapt to his tiny feet and cheered. "You have an interview for the job tomorrow morning in Tokyo. Your references and papers are on your desk and you leave tonight. Better go home and pack, Fujisaki-kun."

Chihiro blinked up at him. "How long will I be gone?"

"However long it takes. Oh, and make sure you take your nice dresses. They're not gonna suspect you as a spy if you're a weak, little girl!"

Chihiro bit her tongue to prevent herself making a retort she would sorely regret later. Monobear knew her secret; it was one she'd been trying to remedy for years, but to no avail. She'd never grown into a large male figure and had stayed rather petite, despite her efforts.

"Bye-bye, Fujisaki-kun!"

"R-right," she muttered and scampered out of the room. The door slammed automatically behind her, and she heaved a heavy sigh.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked from behind her.

She spun around, her eyes wide, and then offered a small bow in greeting. "A-ah, yes, Naegi-kun. Sorry if I alarmed you."

Naegi smiled kindly to her. "You don't need to apologise. You just looked a little… flustered."

She returned his smile easily. There were many shady characters in their organisation so it had been surprising when Naegi had entered their ranks. When asked how he'd ended up here, he simply said he had bad luck.

"I have a job from Monobear which means I have to leave for Tokyo tonight. It's, um, a bit short-notice."

Naegi's head tilted fractionally to the left and his eyes narrowed, as if trying to remember something. "Is that the—the Ishimaru case?"

Chihiro nodded feverishly. "Y-yeah. I've never done ground work before…"

"You'll be fine," Naegi replied, and Chihiro almost found herself believing him. "Well, uh, good luck! I'll see you when you get back."

"Yeah." She offered a small wave as he continued down the hall, and didn't move to make her way back to her desk until he'd rounded the corner.

* * *

Chihiro's first views of Chiyoda, Tokyo, were warped with the confusion that came when suddenly roused from slumber. Her neck ached painfully and her cheek was cold from where it had been pressed against the window. She ran a hand through her hair, working out a few knots, and peered bemusedly up at the man beside her.

"Huh?"

"I said the train's stopped. This is your stop, isn't it?" he said, pointing to the ticket, still in its position on her lap from where it had been placed hours ago.

"Y-yes. Thank you," she replied, standing. The man, she noticed, simply scowled at her and moved on. She stared after him, confused about his impatience when he'd shown the kindness to wake her up to ensure she didn't miss her stop. She shook her head; she'd never been fond of large cities anyway, for this exact reason. Then again, Chiyoda wasn't overly large, just somewhat intimidating in its grandeur and importance.

She slung her satchel over her shoulder and pulled her suitcase behind her, her arm straining with its weight and her fatigue. It had been a long day.

She'd been dismissed from her regular tasks and told to go home and prepare for the next day. Upon consulting her files, she was unsettled to see that she would be using her real name, but at least everything else was fabricated. Her college degree, her previous employers, even her parents were now completely fictitious while she was here. She had an apartment already in her name and had ownership of until a week after the election—over a month from now—although she was expected to complete her task well before then. It wouldn't do well to infiltrate Ishimaru's security and simply disappear. She would have to linger as not to draw suspicion to herself.

She'd read over the personnel files provided by Monobear; they had so much confidential information in them that it hardly even fazed her. She knew her target; she knew the motive; all she needed to do was go undetected in her line of duty.

With a weary sigh, she descended the escalators and went through the exit that opened onto a large, busy street. It was late and people were eager to get home. Business men and women hurried along, clad in blacks and greys, and students ambled by their side, heads bowed against the wind.

Chihiro hailed a taxi.

She sank into the backseat as she rattled off the apartment's address to the driver. He nodded and a silence descended upon them. She raised a hand to her temple and massaged it gently. Curiously enough, staring at screens all day did little to upset her eyes, yet a day away from them and she could feel the strain already.

She'd never meant for it to end up like this. She'd wanted to be a programmer, perhaps for a quirky independent company, or maybe a large, prestigious corporation. She never wanted to join a terrorist organisation, no matter how powerful and rich they were. She'd been at the lowest point in her life, freshly fired from her new job and extremely uncomfortable in her own body. They'd taken her then. She'd woken up in a place that vaguely resembled a classroom and met Monobear. At first she'd been confused, scared, and at a loss of what to do. Everything was eventually explained. She was reminded of a side project she'd work on while at college, an artificial intelligence software; the very same software that had been used to create Monobear, the face of Hope.

Hope was a terrorist organisation, but they despised that label. They were talented individuals putting their skills to 'good' use. They were changing the world, one job at a time. They chose their targets, and sometimes their targets were chosen for them. They acted ruthlessly and without discrimination, moulding the future of the country while avoiding detection.

They made an offer she couldn't refuse. With a gun to her head and smile on his face, Monobear slid the contract and a pen over, binding her to the organisation. She swore loyalty and accepted the knowledge of any consequences should her loyalty be compromised. She'd regretted it ever since, but there was no way out of Hope.

She'd wanted to create software that would help people and change their lives, not destroy their careers and create widespread panic.

The taxi jolted to a stop and Chihiro was sharply brought back to the present. She thanked the driver and handed over the necessary payment, before lugging her case from the car and facing the large building. It had many stories and was almost dizzyingly tall. The grey stone was mottled with dirt all over and white paint covered the lower walls where vandals had attacked.

It was only a month. She could handle this.

Thankfully the elevator was in working order, and she called for the woman inside to hold the doors for her. A pale hand struck out and the woman stepped aside as Chihiro entered. She regarded her with a curious glance, but said nothing. Instead, she twirled a strand of aubergine hair around her fingers and flipped a long braid over her shoulder. The elevator soon stopped again and she smiled as she left.

Chihiro tried not to have any expectations before she saw the apartment, but it was hard not to. Hope was a notorious organisation, well-known for its anonymity and efficiency, and many millionaires gave rather heavy payments for their services. When she reached the top floor, she opened an envelope that had been given to her and a key slid out. Once she managed to fumble the key into the lock, she opened the door and was slightly disappointed by the interior, although not overly so. It was quaint, if a little cosy, but certainly liveable.

The hallway was short and led into a living room with a worn sofa and small television. A wooden set of table and chairs for two was situated to the left of the living room, and Chihiro assumed the door beyond it led to the kitchen. She walked down the hallway branching off from the living room and found three doors. The first was a small laundry room, which was damp and smelt vaguely stale. The second was a spotless bathroom, and the third, thankfully, was her bedroom. She gave a heavy breath and walked forwards, only to fall face first onto the bed. She waited for several moments before crawling along so her whole body could fit on it. She rolled over and sat up.

A bedside table occupied each space either side of the bed, although only one had a lamp and alarm clock on it. A large closet was on one side of the room and a chest of drawers and a vanity mirror were on the other. The walls were a plain, off-white colour, and the curtains and bedding a rich, deep blue.

Chihiro allowed herself to fall back against the bed. She would only close her eyes for a few minutes. She had to unpack. She had to go over her notes. She had to get ready for bed; it would be a tiring day tomorrow.

_As if today hasn'__t been_, she thought.

She was only resting her eyes, really.


	2. Chapter II

**Hacker**

**Chapter II**

The streets passed in a dizzying haze; the flows of traffic moving efficiently enough to prevent any jams. She rubbed gingerly at her eyes in an attempt to wipe away sleep whilst avoiding smudging any makeup. She'd been awake for a while but her apartment had no coffee in it and little food. She'd managed to grab an apple before she left, but it was hardly a filling breakfast. Her stomach growled and she promised herself a large lunch. It was enough to slightly brighten her mood.

With a quick 'thanks' to the driver, Chihiro shouldered her bag and slipped out of the taxi. The headquarters for the Liberal Democratic Party was a large, white building, consisting of many tinted windows and a steady flow of people entering and leaving the building. She smoothed down her dress and threw a glance to each side; she'd been assured that she'd have no issue being hired, and beyond that the operation should run without any complications. Regardless of the subtle security placed around her and fine detail put into the operation, she was still nervous.

The day had started with a loud announcement from Monobear. He'd shouted at her repetitively in his grating voice to 'Wake up, Fujisaki-kun, wake up!' and she'd eventually had to comply. It was no surprised that she'd fallen asleep fully clothed, not even under the bed's duvet; she'd been so tired last night that she simply hadn't cared. Evidently predicting this turn of events, Monobear had provided a personal wakeup call through some hidden speaker system in her room. She was used to his intrusions by now, and while deeply unsettled, she was somewhat thankful that she'd woken up with sufficient time to get ready.

She'd read over the given documents time and time again; she knew her employers inside out and had already memorised the building's layout. She knew where the security room was, where they kept their servers, and, most importantly, where Ishimaru worked.

She headed inside with a false air of confidence and hoped it was enough to fool her potential employers. She'd heard of people having butterflies in their stomach when nervous, but this felt more like a writhing pit of snakes; it was as if her insides were twisting and turning with her stress and nerves. She had a natural timid composure anyway, so throwing her into this situation did horrors for her anxiety.

She approached the front desk. A pristinely dressed woman with elegantly twisted hair glanced upwards as Chihiro stood in front of her, and arched an eyebrow. "May I help you?"

Chihiro suddenly felt very vulnerable, as if the woman's gaze pierced right through her. She squared her shoulders, brought herself to her full height, which wasn't much, regardless of her heeled shoes, and answered, "I'm here for the, um, job interview."

The woman tapped away at her computer and then looked back to Chihiro. "Fujisaki Chihiro?" Chihiro nodded. "Take a seat over there. Someone will come to fetch you."

She nodded once again and turned on her heel to walk away. She hoped she gave off some essence of dignity, or at least looked as if she knew what she was doing. She took the free seat closest to the desk and sat at the very edge, bouncing her knees. Her fingers intertwined with each other and she placed her hands in her lap, looking around the entrance hall. Most people kept their heads down and hurried to their destinations, while few meandered about, taking their time with whatever they were doing.

This place was so different to Despair. First of all, it was completely legal and no one was looking over their shoulder in paranoia. Everyone looked like they were here willingly and not being forced to stay. She doubted anyone lived here, unlike back at her usual office. The system had been beaten down long ago, with assurance that all of the organisation's secrets would remain so, at the cost of the workers' lives, but employees at Despair used to live in the headquarters. Monobear claimed it was for safety; the workers claimed it was inhumane. It was only when they threatened to kill each other that they were released.

Her shoulders tensed at a polite cough and she looked over to see a rather large man standing before her. He wore black suit trousers and a dress shirt, with an orange tie and grey knitted cardigan to match. His hair was dark, with a large pointed ahoge, and Chihiro watched as he raised a large hand to his face to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"You're Fujisaki Chihiro?" he asked.

She nodded and rose to her feet. "Y-yes," she replied, extending a hand towards him. "Pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Yamada Hifumi." His hand practically engulfed her own as he shook it. "I write for the website and edit all the content. I'll be overseeing your interview today." He nodded his head in the direction of a hallway and said, "This way."

Chihiro hurried after him.

He led her along a bright, busy corridor and towards an elevator. He greeted several other colleagues as they entered the small shaft, although the small talk was dropped as the elevator's doors closed. They exited on the third floor, where they made their way passed a room of people typing away at keyboards, their eyes solely fixed on the screen.

Yamada stopped at the end of the corridor and turned to a grey door, holding it open for Chihiro. She nodded in gratitude and entered ahead of him. The room was quite small, housing only a single desk, two chairs, and a filing cabinet. Yamada motioned for her to sit.

"We only use this room for interviews or private meetings, so it's a little dreary," he said as he took the seat opposite her.

"U-um, it's fine," Chihiro stuttered in reply, not entirely sure if the other had been expecting a response. She busied her hands by smoothing the wrinkles from her dress, although none had formed since the previous time she'd carried out the motion.

Yamada leaned back in his chair, which gave a rather concerning creak. "We've already gone through your records and talked to a number of your references. Your personal letter was great, by the way," he added, looking her up and down. Chihiro attempted a smile in return, although she had no recollection of writing a personal letter. In fact, she wondered how long all this had been in place, whereas she'd only known since yesterday. "This is only really a formality. I mean, we both know a pretty, talented girl like you is gonna get the job. We could probably even start you today."

Taken aback by the bluntness of his statement, Chihiro flushed. "Shouldn't we proceed with the interview? I was, um, told to bring all my papers and…"

"Well, one of our coders was suddenly hospitalised and then we received your application shortly after and no one else's. It's not rocket science, is it? But I still need to go through some stuff with you."

Realisation dawned on her; how else had she expected the perfect job opening to appear? Of course Monobear had devised some accident to befall Chihiro's predecessor.

"So, i-is this an interview or…?" The sentence trailed off into silence.

"Technically speaking, yes. We just need to clarify a few things first and sign a few papers."

The following half hour was filled with vague questions—'What are you greatest strengths?' and 'How do you handle deadlines and stress?'—and reading through various papers, confirming her consent to confidentiality and finalising her contract. According to the contract, she would be employed here for a year before they would review and possibly renew the contract, depending on the state of the previous coder. Chihiro knew better, though; she would be out of here before the month was up. She would slip away silently, claiming family issues or sudden illness, and leave her team to handle any trail she left behind. They'd already confirmed that her previous records had been wiped clean; no matter how hard they may try, her current employer would never find her true history, and for that she was somewhat relieved. Should anything go wrong, she would be in serious, irreparable trouble. She could only trust her team back at Despair to save her from any consequences.

Yamada filled her in on the basics of all her duties: maintenance on the website, subtle improvements, fixing any errors. She assured him that she'd be able to handle any other tasks given to her, and he spent a couple of minutes banteringly quizzing her on various aspects of computing and programming. She found that beneath his faintly creepy exterior, he was very nice once in the flow of conversation.

"Well, I had this room booked for another twenty minutes. I can think of a few things we can do to fill up the time," he paused for a moment and cleared his throat awkwardly, "but maybe you'd like a tour round the office? We're usually more laid back on Fridays and the superiors are at some conference so there's no chance of a random drop-in; they usually make everyone nervous. It's the perfect opportunity."

Chihiro nodded her agreement. "Yeah, and I'll know my way around for Monday." As if she didn't know the building inside out already.

With great enthusiasm, Yamada stood, strode towards the door, offered to carry Chihiro's bag for her, and, upon the polite rejection, led her back down the corridor. Opposed to their entering the floor, he now filled the silence with a mixture of loud explanations and muffled muttering. They turned a few heads as they passed, most regarding Chihiro curiously.

She was shown to her future desk and given a slip of paper with her login and admin password. She secured the paper within her bag, her eyes dancing about the place as she did. There appeared to be nothing unusual about the office; it was the standard-issue, cubicle office, although more spaced-out that she'd expected. She couldn't detect anything out of place nor spot a device she couldn't hack her way into. The main servers were in the next room and she'd need to find out how much security was around it. On top of that, she'd need to know if Ishimaru's office had its own network with only information he used, or whether he used and had full access to all the files on the whole building's network. If the latter was the case, she would have no trouble in diverting the access rights and decrypting Ishimaru's confidential files. With the former, however, she'd need to ensure there was a network cable either nearby or in Ishimaru's office, or even somehow gain access to the computer itself.

"Fujisaki-san?"

She blinked, roused from her deep thoughts. "A-ah, sorry. I was, um, thinking."

Yamada patted her heavily on the back. "It's fine, it's fine. You don't need to be worried! I'll get a colleague to give you the rundown on the web's design and how we're updating and improving the layout on Monday. You'll catch up in no time." With a hand still pressed against her lower back, he steered her towards the elevator. "Just remember, third floor is the ICT department, first floor is the cafeteria. You'll catch onto the rest as when you start."

"Thank you for the tour," she said softly, pushing the button to call the elevator.

Yamada waved his hand dismissively. "It was the least I could do, what with you coming down here at such short notice. I'll make sure you get a full tour on Monday." A loud 'ding' sounded and the elevator doors whirred as they opened. "Thank you for your time, Fujisaki-san. I'll see you on Monday."

"Yes, s-see you then." She stepped forwards into the elevator and gave a small, awkward wave as the doors closed. The elevator paused for a moment and then continued downwards to her desired floor.

She leaned against the metallic wall and heaved a sigh. She wasn't sure what strings Monobear had pulled to ensure her employment, but she was grateful the process had gone smoothly. It lessened the difficulties she would encounter later.

The elevator stopped again and she straightened herself. The doors opened and as she moved to leave, she walked directly into another, albeit much larger, body. A rough hand against her shoulder prevented her from falling back, but did nothing to muffle her surprise. A gasp caught in her throat and it took a moment for her to gather wits about her.

"Sorry, li'l lady," the man said.

"Ah, no, it was my fault. Sorry," she babbled. The man gave a hollow chuckle. Chihiro ducked her head and continued on her original path.


End file.
